Post by ringmasterrob on Feb 13, 2005 12:45:53 GMT
Introduction
Welcome to TheCritique.tk, a political and social debating forum founded by The Critique. If you've gotten this far then you have expressed interest in becoming a member of the discussion forum. As the forum has been up for around a year without clear rules being set out then we have created this definitive rules topic to eliminate confusion, anyone signing up the forum is agreeing to abide by these rules. If you are banned and didn't bother to read them then that's your fault and that excuse will not get you reinstated.
Signing Up
You don't need to sign up to view the topics and have a read of what we all have to say. However Due to the childish behaviour of some less mature members in the early days of the forum it was decided guest posting would not be allowed. The one exception is the Problems board, which should only be used as a guest if you are a regular member who cannot log into your account and don't know why. If you post anything rule breaking as a guest in the problems it will lead to you being banned from signing up! The only way to post in the majority of the sections is by signing up. The only information you have to provide is a username and a valid email address. Once your email is confirmed you change the default password and you're in!
User Account
With your user account; we ask please that you only provide details you are comfortable sharing, if you are not comfortable sharing information then please don't put in stupid ages, locations etc. When putting in your signature and personal text make sure it does not violate the Proboards Terms of Service (relevant bit posted here);
User's web site may not contain content promoting the use of illegal drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography, nudity, or any other form of adult content, profanity, hate, "spam," fraud, racism, mlm, pyramid schemes, or promote any illegal activity.
This applies to your signature, personal text, avatar, posts and personal messages also. Providing it doesn't violate the rules then you're free to do with your profile what you will, although if you're going to choose one of the pre-set avatars then try to make sure it doesn't clash with anyone else's avatar. Providing you stick to these rules management will have no need to access your personal profile.
Rules of the Forum
Now you're a member and have set up your account you are ready to post, you need to know the rules. Please note, the management reserves the right to edit and remove anything placed upon this board at any given time, but we do NOT exercise this right apart from in extreme circumstances. Almost always posts will only be deleted or edited if they violate the forum rules. So here (in bullet point form) are the basic rules of the forum:
Make it readable: Members don't want to wade through atrocious spelling and grammar just so they can understand your point. Obviously no one is perfect and most minor spelling errors will be ignored, it's only when your post is a complete mess of poor language that this rule comes into effect.
No Flaming: Flaming will not be tolerated, if you didn't know, flaming is "An unsolicited communication designed purely to aggravate and distress another." Don't degrade a topic into direct insults directed towards a member or their views, you are welcome to disagree, debate and criticise other member's viewpoints but openly attacking and insulting them for it won't be tolerated. Especially when it's something completely unrelated to the forum. Also "flame baiting", which means posts that are made with the aim of angering someone indirectly. Not outright flame, but still liable to bring angry replies is also not allowed.
No Bigotry: Just because the forum is political does NOT mean we will tolerate personal attacks against any individuals or groups, based on race, color, ethnic origin or nationality, sexual orientation or religion. However this only applies to genuine ATTACKS, not simple discussion (unless the discussion becomes outright offensive).
Make it useful: All posts on the forum should contribute to/begin a discussion. Don't add huge monologues onto the end of your post or roleplay style descriptions of what you are doing; it makes it sound like you're in some cheesy RPG. Also don't put strings of emoticons, full stops, exclamation marks or questions marks on the end of your post, maximum of 2 or 3 in a row. Don't do single line posts that don't contribute to the topic in any way or even worse, long and rambling posts that don't actually make any points that add to the discussion. Posts are most certainly about quality over quantity.
No Spamming: We all know what spam is by now, and that most certainly won't be tolerated. Don't plug your latest website venture in the off topic forum without PMing a management member first, 9 times out of 10 we will allow you to post a topic about it and even add it to the news fader if asked first. If you don't ask first the topic will be deleted. The one exception to this is if you are posting a relevant website that isn't your own (e.g. when Political Compass and Nation States links were posted due to members being interested in them) in which case it will be allowed. Posting a topic or post more than once on purpose is also spam, as is creating a second topic for an issue already being discussed, this does not apply if the previous topic has been locked or is VERY old (i.e. many months). In the case of wishing to discuss an issue from an old topic, start a new topic for it rather than revive a topic from the dregs of the list.
Deviations: Try to keep discussion of an issue relevant to the topic title, however we recognise and accept that deviations add interest to the debate and keep it interesting so wont crack down on a discussion heading in a different direction as long as it is relevant to the forum's subject matter. This does not mean that you can hijack a topic and force it onto a new subject, it's much better to just create your own topic than to hijack. Finally any posts that deviate too wildly from the topic's subject may be deleted as a violation of "Make it useful".
One Account per Person: This is basically self explanatory; if you are found to have multiple accounts and are using them to 'back you up' then both accounts will be terminated. This does not apply if you HAD an account which was deleted by your own choice (i.e. not for rule violations) and have decided to return with a new account.
Rate Articles Constructively: When rating articles in the "Articles" section make sure you are rating them constructively and fairly, the current article system and how it works is explained in detail here thegreatcritic.proboards24.com/index.cgi?board=Articles&action=display&thread=1107554616
Welcome to TheCritique.tk, a political and social debating forum founded by The Critique. If you've gotten this far then you have expressed interest in becoming a member of the discussion forum. As the forum has been up for around a year without clear rules being set out then we have created this definitive rules topic to eliminate confusion, anyone signing up the forum is agreeing to abide by these rules. If you are banned and didn't bother to read them then that's your fault and that excuse will not get you reinstated.
Signing Up
You don't need to sign up to view the topics and have a read of what we all have to say. However Due to the childish behaviour of some less mature members in the early days of the forum it was decided guest posting would not be allowed. The one exception is the Problems board, which should only be used as a guest if you are a regular member who cannot log into your account and don't know why. If you post anything rule breaking as a guest in the problems it will lead to you being banned from signing up! The only way to post in the majority of the sections is by signing up. The only information you have to provide is a username and a valid email address. Once your email is confirmed you change the default password and you're in!
User Account
With your user account; we ask please that you only provide details you are comfortable sharing, if you are not comfortable sharing information then please don't put in stupid ages, locations etc. When putting in your signature and personal text make sure it does not violate the Proboards Terms of Service (relevant bit posted here);
User's web site may not contain content promoting the use of illegal drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography, nudity, or any other form of adult content, profanity, hate, "spam," fraud, racism, mlm, pyramid schemes, or promote any illegal activity.
This applies to your signature, personal text, avatar, posts and personal messages also. Providing it doesn't violate the rules then you're free to do with your profile what you will, although if you're going to choose one of the pre-set avatars then try to make sure it doesn't clash with anyone else's avatar. Providing you stick to these rules management will have no need to access your personal profile.
Rules of the Forum
Now you're a member and have set up your account you are ready to post, you need to know the rules. Please note, the management reserves the right to edit and remove anything placed upon this board at any given time, but we do NOT exercise this right apart from in extreme circumstances. Almost always posts will only be deleted or edited if they violate the forum rules. So here (in bullet point form) are the basic rules of the forum:
Make it readable: Members don't want to wade through atrocious spelling and grammar just so they can understand your point. Obviously no one is perfect and most minor spelling errors will be ignored, it's only when your post is a complete mess of poor language that this rule comes into effect.
No Flaming: Flaming will not be tolerated, if you didn't know, flaming is "An unsolicited communication designed purely to aggravate and distress another." Don't degrade a topic into direct insults directed towards a member or their views, you are welcome to disagree, debate and criticise other member's viewpoints but openly attacking and insulting them for it won't be tolerated. Especially when it's something completely unrelated to the forum. Also "flame baiting", which means posts that are made with the aim of angering someone indirectly. Not outright flame, but still liable to bring angry replies is also not allowed.
No Bigotry: Just because the forum is political does NOT mean we will tolerate personal attacks against any individuals or groups, based on race, color, ethnic origin or nationality, sexual orientation or religion. However this only applies to genuine ATTACKS, not simple discussion (unless the discussion becomes outright offensive).
Make it useful: All posts on the forum should contribute to/begin a discussion. Don't add huge monologues onto the end of your post or roleplay style descriptions of what you are doing; it makes it sound like you're in some cheesy RPG. Also don't put strings of emoticons, full stops, exclamation marks or questions marks on the end of your post, maximum of 2 or 3 in a row. Don't do single line posts that don't contribute to the topic in any way or even worse, long and rambling posts that don't actually make any points that add to the discussion. Posts are most certainly about quality over quantity.
No Spamming: We all know what spam is by now, and that most certainly won't be tolerated. Don't plug your latest website venture in the off topic forum without PMing a management member first, 9 times out of 10 we will allow you to post a topic about it and even add it to the news fader if asked first. If you don't ask first the topic will be deleted. The one exception to this is if you are posting a relevant website that isn't your own (e.g. when Political Compass and Nation States links were posted due to members being interested in them) in which case it will be allowed. Posting a topic or post more than once on purpose is also spam, as is creating a second topic for an issue already being discussed, this does not apply if the previous topic has been locked or is VERY old (i.e. many months). In the case of wishing to discuss an issue from an old topic, start a new topic for it rather than revive a topic from the dregs of the list.
Deviations: Try to keep discussion of an issue relevant to the topic title, however we recognise and accept that deviations add interest to the debate and keep it interesting so wont crack down on a discussion heading in a different direction as long as it is relevant to the forum's subject matter. This does not mean that you can hijack a topic and force it onto a new subject, it's much better to just create your own topic than to hijack. Finally any posts that deviate too wildly from the topic's subject may be deleted as a violation of "Make it useful".
One Account per Person: This is basically self explanatory; if you are found to have multiple accounts and are using them to 'back you up' then both accounts will be terminated. This does not apply if you HAD an account which was deleted by your own choice (i.e. not for rule violations) and have decided to return with a new account.
Rate Articles Constructively: When rating articles in the "Articles" section make sure you are rating them constructively and fairly, the current article system and how it works is explained in detail here thegreatcritic.proboards24.com/index.cgi?board=Articles&action=display&thread=1107554616